Classroom lesson · Victoria Harbour skyline · 🇭🇰 Hong Kong

Victoria Harbour skyline

One of the most famous views of any city on Earth

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Victoria Harbour is a stretch of sparkling water that sits right in the middle of Hong Kong, with tall towers and glittering lights on both sides. When you look across the harbour at night, the skyscrapers flash and glow and reflect on the water below. It is one of the most famous city views anywhere in the world.

Tell me more

Hong Kong is built on both sides of the harbour. On one side is Hong Kong Island, with its famous skyline of skyscrapers packed tightly up the hillsides. On the other side is Kowloon, a busy urban area on the mainland. The harbour divides them - but ferries, tunnels and bridges keep them joined.

Every night at eight o'clock, many of the buildings light up together in a show called the Symphony of Lights. Music plays, and the towers flash different colours in time. It is one of the biggest permanent light shows in the world.

Victoria Harbour is one of the deepest natural harbours anywhere - big ships can sail right into it without difficulty. For hundreds of years it made Hong Kong an important place for trading, because goods could arrive by sea from all directions.

Looking across the harbour from Tsim Sha Tsui, visitors can count hundreds of skyscrapers all at once. Hong Kong has more buildings taller than 150 metres than any other city on Earth. Space is precious here, so almost everything is built upwards.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Why might a city that is packed tightly onto small land build tall rather than wide?
  2. 02If you looked across a harbour at a city at night, what colours do you think you would see?
  3. 03Victoria Harbour made Hong Kong a good trading place. Why might a deep, sheltered harbour matter for ships?
Try this

Classroom activity

On A3 paper, draw a harbour scene: water in the middle, and a skyline of skyscrapers on each side. Use rulers to make the towers different widths and heights. Add reflections in the water by mirroring some of the shapes with a light pencil. Compare designs with classmates.